Thursday, March 3, 2011

Its time to get SERIOUS!

I have hit a bit of a plateau in my eco journey. I have changed everything in the house, from the washing detergent to the handwash, to totally pure, natural alternatives. I can't do much garden-wise as we are in limbo waiting to move. I find I am the best "admin" on my page when I am searching for greener alternatives for myself. Lately I've been a lazy bum!

There is room for improvement, however, in my day to day behaviour. I figure my biggest environmental downfalls are a) energy consumption and b) consumerism.

Lets start with energy consumption. I am pretty good, really. I turn everything off at the wall, I don't have appliances on unnecessarily, I don't use a clothes dryer, I try to deal with the weather BEFORE turning on the air con, and we keep the TV off (most days) until around 4pm. So I'm not overly wasteful. But still, we use a lot of energy.

So what I plan to do about it is start "Technology free Tuesday". To go a whole day, each week, without using electricity! If you would like to try something similar, there are 3 levels of TFT you could try...

Level 1: Keep the TV and Internet off ALL dayLevel 2: Keep the TV, internet, including all other appliances (toaster, dishwasher, washing machine) ... but allowing for air conditioning and cooking appliances for dinnerLevel 3: Keep ALL appliances off all day, including air conditioning and cooking appliances. This could be a great opportunity to seek out some "raw" recipes for dinner, which is great for your health!

Even at the third level, however, I reserve the right to use the baby monitor. Our house is large and its a safety issue. And lights. You could be all hardcore and use candles, but I am totally phobic when it comes to fires. So I'll just keep lights to a strict minimum.

You might think that the third level is unattainable, its really not. If its hot? Have a cool bath with your kids. No cook recipes? Yep, why not? After all, its only one day a week. But you get to set your own rules. Be as hardcore or as pansy assed as you like!

I am looking forward to implementing this! We had a net and TV free day yesterday and Butterfly and I had the best fun EVER! Getting back to basics and having fun in the backyard. She usually asks to watch the "Wiwis" (Wiggles) a few times a day, but she was having so much fun she forgot about them!

NEXT? Consumerism. Yeah man, this is my achilles heel. I love me some shopping! Especially for Butterfly. A good friend of mine told me of a blogger she loved, who had a spend free week every month! Yep! You heard right! I think this is ingenious! So here are the levels of "Watch your Wealth Week"

Level 1: Buy nothing but groceries, petrol, lunch if you are out and gifts if you have a function. So basically NO impulse buying! No toys, clothes, activities that cost money. Level 2: Buy nothing but groceries and petrolLevel 3: Buy nothing. NOTHING! Groceries from the previous week will HAVE to last you. This may take some creative cooking! If you run outta petrol, you stay your ass home! If you have a function, well, surely you were given more than a weeks notice. If not, make a gift.

I'm thinking the 1st to the 7th of each and every month.

OK by now you are laughing at me (especially if you know me!). I ain't kidding people! I aim to be at level 3 as soon as possible! I spend money all the time on stuff we could have done without! A week isn't that long to go without spending. I bet that even if you were told to hit level 3 right now at no notice, you would totes survive. A lot people live at level 3 due to necessity. Those whose breadwinners get paid monthly will be nodding their heads! But seeing as its snake breeding season and my family has some spare $ each week, this is a kick up the ass to save some money (and stop trying to buy happiness! Even if it usually IS for other people! My sister in law is going to score BIG time from my current baby spend-a-thon!)

So thats where I am at. When we finally move, I will be getting my green thumb on! Until then, I have to try to convince a puzzled hubby why the above ideas are worth implementing...